head to head · open source
puck vs magic
puck has 13,342 GitHub stars, 977 forks, 200 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. magic has 1,192 stars, 176 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. puck leads on adoption by 1,019% (13,342 vs 1,192 stars). puck is written in TypeScript under MIT; magic is written in C# under MIT. puck has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, magic 15%. puck was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| puck | magic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 977 | ⑂ 176 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puck if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick magic if
- You want the magic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and magic fits your workflow better
About puck
Puck is a modular, open source visual editor for React.js that lets teams assemble their own drag and drop editing experiences from their existing React components, and it is aimed at developers building internal systems or commercial products who want to own both the editor and the data behind it.
About magic
Magic is an MIT licensed low code platform and MCP server, written in C for .NET 10, that turns plain English into a working full stack application — database, secure API, business logic and frontend — running on your own hardware with no vendor lock in.
read the full magic overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Automation projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Automation field.
Frequently asked questions
Is puck or magic more popular?
puck has 13,342 GitHub stars and magic has 1,192. puck has the larger community by that measure.
Are puck and magic free?
Both are open source. puck is licensed under MIT and magic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puck and magic?
puck is written in TypeScript and magic in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, puck or magic?
Choose puck if you want the larger community (13,342 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose magic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.